Bang! A loud sound rang out.

The man lowered the barrel of his magic gun, which radiated heat along with an acrid smell, and drew a breath as he looked at the monster’s corpse bleeding out on the ground.

Frozen earth. The land of snowfields.

A place so barren that half the year it lay pressed against the cold breath of winter. Yet it was precisely because of that harshness that the strong people here stood firm, holding up the empire’s walls against the incursions of monsters.

The master of that land, the young Grand Duke of the snowfield territory, Lionel, let his dark blue-black hair scatter in the wind and watched the person running toward him.

“Your Grace!”

A thick cloak trimmed with animal fur billowed out, and an ominous light spread through those blue eyes.

“Your Grace, Your Grace!”

The North is a quiet land. Which meant it was rare for his adjutant to come running in a state like that, looking half out of his mind.

Swallowing his irritation, he spun the magic gun in his hand and holstered it at his hip, then jerked his chin as if to ask what was the matter.

“What’s all the fuss about?”

“Something terrible, something terrible has happened. An urgent message has arrived from the imperial capital!”

Lionel’s movement faltered.

“What?”

The imperial capital. The moment he heard those words, Lionel’s face crumpled miserably.

“Why would that woman…”

His expression turned ugly with hatred he could not hide, and his adjutant, who was faint of heart by the standards of a man of the North, let out a small squeak and shrank his shoulders.

But he simply could not get his emotions under control.

“How dare she come here.”

It had already been a full year since that woman ascended the throne. Lionel had been leaning on his position as Grand Duke, a rank even the empire’s emperor could not easily command, to make clear that he did not recognize that woman as his sovereign.

Because he hated her. Enough that, if he could, he would have put a magic bullet through her heart.

There had once been an opportunity to do exactly that, but he had let it slip, and now he was registering his protest by turning his back on her.

And yet, a message from that woman?

Cursing under his breath, he arrived in haste to find a messenger trembling where he stood.

“Grand Duke, Y-Your Grace.”

One man who appeared to be the representative, and three who looked like knights trailing behind him. Their hoods were pulled up over their heads so their faces could not be seen, but if they were men sent to the North, which was like a death sentence to imperial capital knights, they were bound to be a sorry lot.

“What is it?”

Normally, upon the arrival of an imperial edict, one was supposed to kneel and receive the command with proper courtesy, but there was no sign of the Grand Duke inclining his head.

The noble messenger seemed to have expected nothing less, his eyes simply rolling in their sockets. Lionel stamped his foot and bellowed.

Bang!

“D*mn it, do I look like I have patience to spare? Speak quickly. What in the hell is the reason the emperor’s little rat dared to set foot on the soil of the North.”

“Eek!”

At those ferocious words, the messenger’s shoulders trembled violently. All the more so because the magic gun, famous as the Grand Duke’s weapon of choice, was glinting menacingly in his hand.

“H-Her, Her Majesty has commanded me to deliver this!”

But he was the one tasked with conveying the emperor’s words. Until he delivered this order, he was in effect the emperor’s proxy. His hands shook pale and pitifully, yet he thr*st it toward the Grand Duke all the same.

“……”

“……”

A long standoff followed. At last the moment came when Grand Duke Lionel reached out and took the letter. Just as the messenger let out a sigh of relief, Lionel tore the letter open and read it with irreverent disregard, and a vicious murderous gleam settled in those blue eyes.

And then.

“D*mn.”

Riiip.

“Good heavens, G-Grand Duke, Your Grace! What are you doing!”

He had torn apart none other than a letter bearing the emperor’s words. It had magical protections on it that should have made it no easy thing to tear, yet it shredded apart wretchedly, scattering in several pieces through the air, and the messenger leapt to his feet.

And then, thwack.

“This is the land of the North.”

The magic gun’s barrel swung toward the messenger who had cried out.

“And you come here bearing a letter full of nonsense, claiming it is the emperor’s will, and that’s supposed to be the end of it? You don’t seem to care much for your life.”

“Th-this, this is, this is absolutely outrageous! This is ut-utter insolence!”

“Is it? But what happens when there’s no one left to carry those words back? Do you think the emperor will still be able to come after me crying insolence and whatnot?”

“B-but that!”

It was a hair-trigger situation. Just as a dry swallow was about to go down, one of the three knights standing behind the representative noble stepped forward.

It happened in an instant.

“Your Grace.”

Someone grabbed his gun barrel firmly with their hand and pushed it down, then threw back their hood. The first thing visible was gray hair grown long to the waist, unusual for a man of the empire these days.

Concealed in the shadow of the hood, a silver eyepatch bearing a distinctively striking pattern. Gray eyes with only one open, yet carrying a force that could not be ignored.

It was like something belonging to a beast.

“What is the meaning of this discourtesy?”

The knight who had forced the aimed gun barrel down with his own strength was no ordinary man. Sparks flew in Lionel’s eyes.

“Ha. The emperor’s watchdog dares to set foot in my territory?”

His lips twisted viciously, and the knights of House Ires who had been standing by leveled their guns and swords at the unfamiliar knight all at once.

“With no fear whatsoever.”

“……”

The representative noble of the messenger party now wore an expression that said he simply wanted to faint, but the imperial knight deflected the killing intent of them all with perfect composure. The emperor’s loyal knight, the second strongest under the emperor, Sirak never retreated.

“A messenger’s letter is the same as the emperor herself.”

“So then, will you take my head?”

“It would not be impossible.”

“No matter how much you run wild trusting in the emperor’s power, I am a Grand Duke.”

“I know.”

“You’d do well not to underestimate the power of House Ires beyond a point. No matter how capable you are, you cannot dodge every one of my bullets and my knights’ swords!”

The expressionless knight answered evenly.

“Even if I were to return with my arms and legs cut off, taking Your Grace’s head would still be possible. As you know, my abilities are not ordinary.”

“Ha!”

At the knight commander’s outrageous words, the knights of the Grand Duke’s household spat curses and radiated killing intent. In an atmosphere that felt ready to explode at any moment, it was unexpectedly the Grand Duke’s side that put away the gun.

“D*mn it all. Enough.”

He raised his hand and gave the order, and at that single gesture, the trained knights instantly withdrew their killing intent and fell back together.

The personnel filed out, dragging the messenger party along with them, and in the space that remained, only the Grand Duke and the knight commander were left.

“You. What are you scheming?”

The Grand Duke pointed at the messily torn scraps of paper and spoke.

“Come down to the imperial capital for the social season?”

“Yes.”

“That is genuinely not funny. Were that woman and I ever on terms of exchanging pleasant invitations?”

“Mind your words. She is Your Majesty. Not that woman. She is the master of the empire.”

Lionel dismissed the protest entirely.

“Something is going on.”

“……”

“What reason could there be for the cur who clings to the emperor like her shadow and never leaves her side to come running all the way out here.”

“……”

“Has something happened to that woman?”

Did that mean something grave enough to warrant this? Lionel’s eyes narrowed.

He simply could not let go of the hatred he held toward the emperor. The past year he had endured had been like hell.

If anything, the brutal environment of the North had soothed his state of mind. As long as he kept himself busy and did not think, he could keep the surging murderous intent at bay.

Which also meant that the moment he let his guard down even slightly, he felt he would abandon everything on the spot and go rampaging off to take the emperor’s head.

That woman, Iberis, knew all of it.

“If it weren’t something like that, none of this makes sense. She calls for me without a shred of fear?”

“I have nothing to say.”

It could have been treason. He could not bring a greater calamity upon an empire that had barely walked a road of blood to reach stability. So he had thought they were each burning off their hatred by agreeing not to touch one another, and yet what was this scheming now?